Of Chivalry and Toads
by Get The Funk Out
Summary: A collection of short one-shots about Jiraiya over the course of his life. Good times, bad times, and everything in between.


**A/N: **This is an old one shot that I'm deciding to make the start of a series of one-shots. It's to keep me writing even when I don't especially want to, and to keep my other story moving. If you've read this one already, it's nothing new, but the rest of them definitely will be. Happy reading!

The day was drawing to a close, Jiraiya noted. The sun was starting to set over the mountain tops, and the dimming light was casting truly beautiful shadows across the surface of the peaceful river Jiraiya was eyeing from a bush. Several scantily clad women were frolicking in obliviousness, and any onlooker would have assumed Jiraiya to be nothing more than a peeping Tom. Which, were he asked, he would admit, in absolutely clear terms, that he was. Naruto himself was merely half conscious, laying in the field designated for training that day, gasping for breath, as he tried to master the Rasengan.

Jiraiya was pensive, and scribbling in his notorious pad furiously, but not for his usual reasons. The scene around him was meaningless as he wrote, a glassy look in his usually gleaming eyes. He dropped the pad on the ground and tried to look at the sight before him and enjoy, but he couldn't quite muster up the energy. After all, he mused, there would always be another day. As he picked his pad up off the ground to set up camp for the night, he couldn't help but read what he'd written, with numerous cross outs and erasures, even though he'd written virtually the same note for the majority of the last thirteen years.

_Dear gaki,_

_You were too good for your own good, you know that? Maybe, if you were a little more selfish, and a little more realistic, you'd of had Sarutobi stick that beast in some orphan, a real orphan, with no future to speak of, and not tell anyone. No. You went and dumped it on your only son, the heir to the Namikaze, and son of the fourth Hokage, and stripped him of his future. You wanted him to be a hero, a savior, and he was the village whipping boy for most of his life. Sarutobi, though I loved him to death, is dead. Killed because he was too kind, too. You would have been able to take him down when it counted, you know that? Because you knew how to keep duty before relationships, when it didn't apply to you. You're off in the belly of the Shinigami, doing Kami-knows-what, and you left me alone. You were my pupil, gaki, and I wanted to see you by my deathbed as your ero-sennin finally kicked the bucket. I wanted to see you have your son sign the Toad contract, and watch you raise him to be the best ninja this world had ever seen. But you're gone now. And you left both of us hopelessly lost._

_He could have grown up as a legend, you know, and maybe then he'd finally get his wish of becoming Hokage. It's all he spouts about-If you were here, you'd be eating it up, and bragging to me about how he's following in his dad's footsteps. Maybe he is, Minato. Maybe even without you here, even without Kushina, he's going to be like you. I hope not. I'm trying to stop him while I can-it's bad enough that I had to watch you die once, but I'm growing attached to the little runt, and I think if he died somehow, I'd finally just give it all up. He looks like you, too, at his age. He's twelve, in case you were wondering. Almost thirteen, now, and just as short as you were. If he's anything like you, his voice won't crack for years, and he won't get a date until he's eighteen. I would hate to fail both my students where it really counts. You know exactly what I mean, too-You tried to hide it, but when you had to drop the question to you-know-who, you came right back to old Jiraiya-sama for tips on how to romance the lady. I was glad to oblige, but the rough-draft of Icha-Icha just wasn't doing it for you, so you burned it. It took a few months to recreate that manuscript, I'll have you know. You cost me a fortune. I'm taking it out on your son. I'll take his money and hold on to it for any…ventures I may find myself needing a bit of change for. Don't be mad -I'll put back more than I took, just to make sure he has enough to live on. Do you have any idea how much they overprice this kid for supplies? He's wearing this hideous orange jumpsuit because they won't sell him anything else-they probably hope he gets his with a shuriken because he's so easy to spot. I like him for that, though. Always stands out in a crowd and worms his way into your heart. If he follows your line of operating, then I won't really know how much I cherish him until he's gone._

_I let him sign the contract. For you more than anything else. I didn't even see too much potential in him then, but it was his birthright, so I let him go for it. Tadpoles for a month. Worse than you, even, and you only first summoned Gama-bunta a year after you started. Without Kyuubi, I think he'd of been just as bad off. Once he summoned that old bag of wind, they hit it off fast. He gave him the 'hold on to my back, and I'll let you be my subordinate' test, and Naruto passed. Gama-bunta even dropped him off at the hospital once the kid ran out of chakra from the nearly seven hours he held on. You'd of loved to watch, too. He has a ton of spirit, for such a little guy, and he always stays true to his words. A real failure of a ninja, if I've ever seen one, but a proud failure. There isn't a rule in the book he hasn't broken, but I think it works for him. I can only hope his idealistic world doesn't come crashing down around him like mine did. Well, gaki, it's been good to talk to you again, even like this. I can hear you speaking back, in that confident way of yours, smiling at me. I miss you, and I think the whole village is still feeling the loss. I'll be raising your son from now on, and I'll give him the same chance I did you, more or less._

_See you at the end,_

_Jiraiya_

He looked at the note sourly, tore out the page, and crumpled it in his hand. A sad, knowing smile was spread across his features as he stepped forward, and dropped the note into the flowing blue of the river. It was soon swept away by the current, never to be seen again. He looked to the sky as he'd done so many times before, but was shaken by a sharp voice from behind him.

"Oi, ero-sennin! Quit peeping already, and help me figure this out! I'm going to finish this Rasengan thing by the end of the month, dattebayo!"

Jiraiya wiped the pensive look off his face and grinned down at his pupil, but it didn't reach his eyes.

"You fool! You've scared away my subjects! They were my inspiration!"

The women scattered after making several loud, sustained 'eeps!' of terror at knowing they'd been spied on, and Jiraiya had crocodile tears flowing down his face.

"Tch, whatever. You're just a weak old coot anyway," Naruto quipped, resting his hands on the back of his head as he strolled back to the training field.

Jiraiya's face contorted back to the sad smirk, but this time with a pinch of pride.

'_Weak I may be, but maybe, just maybe, you can bring my strength back, gaki,'_ Jiraiya thought to himself as he followed, seeing both the boy that was and the man that would be.


End file.
